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'Every Brilliant Thing' is the Perfect Show for East Lynne Theater Company's New Stage · Jersey Arts Podcast

• 0:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're listening to the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 0:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Today's episode takes us to London, england.
• 0:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Well, sort of Eastland Theatre Company's production of Every Brilliant Thing is currently rehearsing across the pond, and I was able to steal a few moments with actor Rowan Tickle and director Deirdre McLaughlin.
• 0:23
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Joining us from Eastland's headquarters in Cape May is executive director Mark David Boberic.
• 0:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But what is Every Brilliant Thing about?
• 0:32
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Its synopsis reads a son creates a list of things worth living for all in an attempt to raise the spirits of his chronically depressed mother.
• 0:41
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: He leaves the list on her pillow.
• 0:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: We know she's read it because she's corrected his spelling.
• 0:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Every Brilliant Thing is a hope-infused exploration of all the joys that can be found in life and a reminder that eventually every storm runs out of rain.
• 0:56
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: The Telegraph called it funny, clever and surprisingly uplifting, and Slant Magazine said it's one of those incredible transformative phenomena of collective imagination.
• 1:06
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I call it a comedy with heart, but I'll let you listen to these talented folks explain what it is they love about the show and let you decide.
• 1:15
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Stay tuned to learn more about every brilliant thing.
• 1:20
  Rohan Tickell: We've been rehearsing this morning.
• 1:22
  Deirdre McLaughlin: We've been rehearsing all day, so Rowan's a little peaked.
• 1:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Oh my gosh Remind, remind me what time is it there?
• 1:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: What is it?
• 1:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Six o'clock it's five.
• 1:29
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Yeah, I flew overnight last night and um, and there was a three-hour delay.
• 1:35
  Deirdre McLaughlin: So between it all I'm I'm just like, okay, the sun's out.
• 1:39
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I mean I'd so much.
• 1:41
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Rather I travel a ton for my directing work and it.
• 1:44
  Deirdre McLaughlin: It is definitely easier in the summer because as long as the sun's out you can just go.
• 1:48
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Ok, body like, we're awake at the right time, we can do this.
• 1:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yeah, I can't imagine.
• 1:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I cannot fly very well, so for me to have to do what you're doing, it would end very poorly, very, very poorly.
• 2:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: All right, well, let's just jump into it, because I'm really intrigued by this show, by this story.
• 2:08
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I want to start with Mark, because I have a few questions for you, just about practicality of it all.
• 2:16
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: How did Every Brilliant Thing make its way, or it's in the process of making its way, from London to Cape May?
• 2:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So what has that journey been for you in curating your season and obtaining this show?
• 2:28
  Mark David Boberick: Yeah, well, I would say maybe the answer is actually it sort of made its way from Cape May to London and now it's making its way back to Cape May.
• 2:37
  Mark David Boberick: It was a conversation started last summer between Deirdre and I and you know, of potential options for the theater to explore and, interestingly, I read the script and I loved it, but I put it down and I didn't.
• 2:55
  Mark David Boberick: I was not immediately, I didn't immediately think it was going to be the show for us, not a show I wouldn't want to do, but where we were as a company, I didn't immediately think it was going to be the show for us, not a show I wouldn't want to do, but where we were as a company, I didn't think we could actually pull it off in the orientation and give it the justice that it needed to have.
• 3:17
  Mark David Boberick: And then so many things have happened since then and we're now in this new space.
• 3:19
  Mark David Boberick: This is our first home in 45 years for the company, our first permanent home, so it's the first space that we can actually control entirely.
• 3:28
  Mark David Boberick: So we've been in spaces, actually a history of being in churches, but you know we had been in a church here at Cape May for at least 20 years and so we would put our season on there.
• 3:42
  Mark David Boberick: But it's still an active church and so what would happen is whatever we put on stage during the week would have to come off after the Saturday show and the altar returned to a worship state and then on Tuesday reverse, and then Saturday reverse.
• 3:57
  Mark David Boberick: And so you know it has limited what the company has been able to logistically produce for quite some time.
• 4:04
  Mark David Boberick: But as the evolution of our entry into this building evolved and continued to become more apparent, we realized that we had the ability now to possibly put something in here, and it's really possibly 20 years in the making, also because the last thing Deirdre and I worked on and collaborated with was a site-specific performance where we decided, you know, in our, in our youth, to to try something radical, and for the time it was, we decided to put a show in a warehouse, that it was never a theater before, and so we have a history of of making that.
• 4:45
  Mark David Boberick: Part of the process and part of the fun actually is having is having that, that, that problem to solve about how do you take one space and transform it into another, and so it doesn't have to be designed as a theater.
• 4:59
  Mark David Boberick: You can still.
• 5:00
  Mark David Boberick: You can still present art in it.
• 5:02
  Mark David Boberick: And so once we realized we could be in this space, we started to take a look at that and I said I think it is the right one.
• 5:10
  Mark David Boberick: I think that it's the first show that our company can present in a totally different way, because it's presented in the round and we have the ability right now, because we just have a big open room with nothing fixed to the floor.
• 5:22
  Mark David Boberick: And so let's go for it.
• 5:24
  Deirdre McLaughlin: So, just to add to what Mark is saying, I think a really important part of this play's history is that now it's played, I believe, in over 20, 25 countries, but it originated in a space at the Edinburgh Fringe called the Payne's Plough Roundabout, which is a really popular place space that's always got new writing performed in a circle.
• 5:49
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And at the very start of the script, the first thing the playwright clarifies is that this play should have no large set, that everyone in the audience should be seated, ideally in the round, but ultimately in the most democratic way possible, so that, in addition to being able to watch the performer, they can all see themselves.
• 6:09
  Deirdre McLaughlin: The sense of community in this performance is such a big part of the storytelling and because that is so important and can at times be a little complex, I think that was part of why, when Mark and I originally talked about the show, we said, oh, we're not sure yet.
• 6:26
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And then when we walked into the new renovation together, we said, oh, wait, no, this is the perfect space for curating that really special type of audience interaction, and I think that's an important context in relation to the show.
• 6:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I really love that we your audience are benefiting from your new space as well.
• 6:47
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's not only that it's easier for you, but also that we get such a wonderful show that is meant to be presented in this communal way.
• 6:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I really love that you said that it's a community event, because, as you all know, this is a show that is obviously dealing with a lot of mental health issues.
• 7:03
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: As you all know, this is a show that is obviously dealing with a lot of mental health issues, and I think that a lot of our mental health issues nowadays stem from this lack of community that we're.
• 7:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You know, we're living in this isolated world and everything is digital and we need to.
• 7:14
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think more people would benefit from being in any theater, let alone in in a roundabout like that, in a roundabout like that.
• 7:29
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I kind of want to use that to pivot to how you guys are handling the mental aspect of this and how I know that you're incorporating these Talk Back Thursdays to make sure that you are handling the subject matter with care.
• 7:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So can you talk whether that's Mark or Deirdre, talk to me about how those Talkback Thursdays came about and how they're designed to help your audiences.
• 7:48
  Mark David Boberick: Yeah, sure, so I have.
• 7:50
  Mark David Boberick: In addition to being involved with the theater company, I have several other businesses in the area.
• 7:58
  Mark David Boberick: I have a floral design company, I have an event design company, I have an interior design company, I have an event design company, I have an interior design company and I'm also on the board at the hospital, like that board member that I needed to be.
• 8:25
  Mark David Boberick: And just when I was thinking maybe it's time for me to let someone else take a seat, this show comes along and I realized that I have this opportunity now to connect and, as Deirdre says, community is such an important part of the show, such an important part of the show.
• 8:48
  Mark David Boberick: I now have this ability to connect with all of the people that I have worked with in different capacities, now on something totally brand new.
• 8:52
  Mark David Boberick: And it was important for me because mental illness is something that has hit close to home for me and my family that you know, this show deals.
• 9:03
  Mark David Boberick: Show deals with this, this topic, and it does so in such a beautiful way that it never alienates the audience.
• 9:11
  Mark David Boberick: But I felt like there needed to be just one more element to it and I and I felt like we had a responsibility almost to represent the science end of of mental illness.
• 9:25
  Mark David Boberick: And so I immediately went to my friends at Cooper and said this is what I'd like to do, and would you be on board for this, could you help?
• 9:35
  Mark David Boberick: And they said not only are we on board, but we have a couple other people in mind that would like to be on board, I'm sure, too, and so thus began this whole outreach to other community partners.
• 9:46
  Mark David Boberick: And so you know, there's such a great thing that's happening here within this building, not just the show being a sense of community building, but the history of this space.
• 10:01
  Mark David Boberick: This is the historic Allen AME Church African Methodist Episcopal.
• 10:04
  Mark David Boberick: It was built in 1888 and was nearly destroyed by fire in 2018.
• 10:10
  Mark David Boberick: This is located in the historic black section of Cape May, which is a.
• 10:16
  Mark David Boberick: The historic black section used to be much, much larger.
• 10:20
  Mark David Boberick: It used to take over almost like a quarter of the city.
• 10:22
  Mark David Boberick: What we know is like the Washington Street Mall, the Main Street in Cape May was once part of the black section of Cape May, so it's a lot.
• 10:28
  Mark David Boberick: The history of the of of of the black people in Cape May goes back a very, very long time.
• 10:35
  Mark David Boberick: It's a well-established community.
• 10:37
  Mark David Boberick: The numbers have gone down when the fire hit this building in 2018, the congregation was down to just a few people it was like seven people and they could not themselves raise the money to restore the building, and so the building was endangered until the city stepped in and set about the process of renovation and restoration and preservation in all three of those ways restoration and preservation in all three of those ways and then they approached us, knowing that we did not have a home and that we might be able to do something with this space.
• 11:12
  Mark David Boberick: But, at its very heart, churches are places where people come together to gather and to celebrate.
• 11:19
  Mark David Boberick: These are community structures, and it's important for us as a company that we're, you know, we're not just stepping into this building that's so rich in culture and history without you know, without acknowledging that it's not originally ours and we're not taking it for ourselves.
• 11:40
  Mark David Boberick: We're going to keep it, we're going to hold space for other people and we're going to hold space for everybody, and we want this to become a building that brings many people in in many different ways.
• 11:49
  Mark David Boberick: And so, you know, it's just a a beautiful moment, really, of of all this community stuff coming together in a, in a community building that's being brought back to life in this amazing way and with these community partners.
• 12:04
  Mark David Boberick: So, deirdre, did you have anything else to say?
• 12:07
  Mark David Boberick: I felt like I answered that too long.
• 12:09
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Well, I'm sure we can move around, but I think you answered it really well.
• 12:13
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Okay, I think the simplest, small addition that I would say is one thing that the story of the play makes very clear is that mental health and well-being, while there are different steps we can take as individuals, it's rooted in our connection to others, and that may be one-to-one relationships.
• 12:37
  Deirdre McLaughlin: It may be how other individuals in our lives help us better understand ourselves.
• 12:42
  Deirdre McLaughlin: It can be how we relate to the collective and in that way, remembering that all of those different, dynamic relationships are an important part of facilitating mental health, I think it became clear to us as a creative team that we wanted to not just see those relationships exhibited in the play and they are but to ask how we could make space for similar, varied interactions so that it's really clear that Eastland is interested in more than an audience.
• 13:19
  Deirdre McLaughlin: They're interested in forging a community.
• 13:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm really adoring this community theme that we have going on here.
• 13:26
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love what you're doing.
• 13:27
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'll say it that way I love what you guys are doing.
• 13:30
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But now I'd like to talk to the man of the hour.
• 13:34
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Our star here, shall I go and get it.
• 13:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Uh, our star here, go and get it.
• 13:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Um, as we're talking about all of the the heaviness of of mental health and the responsibility that comes with it, I'm curious how you, as the performer, maintain your own mental well-being while you're crafting a character who is himself living through such a strenuous point in his life.
• 14:00
  Rohan Tickell: Yeah, I don't know if you've read the play or it's going to be.
• 14:04
  Rohan Tickell: When you come and see it it'll be your first experience of it.
• 14:07
  Rohan Tickell: I think it's, and Deirdre will, I'm sure, support me on this, that it's not that there aren't moments in the delivery, even in the rehearsals as we were having them today, where moments become piquant and brittle and present and immediate, but the form of the play and the idea of the play and I think this is, and the play is morphing and changing underneath me every time.
• 14:32
  Rohan Tickell: I sort of look at it and Deirdre will show me things that I just haven't even noticed, or she'll pull things up and I'll notice things.
• 14:39
  Rohan Tickell: But it's more that the play not just because it's done with not a distance perspective, but it's done with a perspective of history, future understanding is that sometimes I'll put it to you this way mental health in its public conversation is often viewed in sort of hot point ideas, in spikes, in peaks, those sort of things, in you know, really really sort of specific events.
• 15:07
  Rohan Tickell: And I think what's really interesting about the play is that it looks at sort of differing mental health as not the anomaly but as a constant, present conversation in these connections, and this one just happens to have a specific connection between mother and child and father and child.
• 15:27
  Rohan Tickell: But I do tell it in retrospect.
• 15:29
  Rohan Tickell: I do visit present moments, I do describe them, but in general I have a certain, I have the luxury of a certain distance from it to look back on it and try and draw the ideas together.
• 15:46
  Rohan Tickell: Does that make sense?
• 15:47
  Rohan Tickell: So it's not like I'm living.
• 15:49
  Rohan Tickell: And also, what's really important is it says very clearly and you know, to quote the lines in the play he says I don't want it to seem like my mother was a monster or my childhood was miserable, because it wasn't, but there are moments and there are moments and moments and it's actually looking at a really interesting conversation is what is this ongoing conversation with that sort of aspect?
• 16:16
  Rohan Tickell: So I guess I found it really enlightening.
• 16:20
  Rohan Tickell: It's constantly sort of pushing at me to look at how those sort of things are coming together.
• 16:24
  Rohan Tickell: And not the word fallout it's really pejorative but I don't have anything better right now but kind of the fallout all around who his father becomes, who he becomes and not to use sort of a lazy comparison, but the he that looks for every brilliant thing in the world is enacted because of his mother's struggles so we can look at.
• 16:49
  Rohan Tickell: Not that we would ever wish his mother's mental health struggles upon her, but it's his response and his reflex and his way of finding his way through the world.
• 16:58
  Rohan Tickell: So I've just found it really interesting to dig and dig and dig and dig.
• 17:05
  Rohan Tickell: And at this point it's not complete for me.
• 17:07
  Rohan Tickell: So I guess I really won't know until I play it night after night and I meet other people in the space and I see their responses and how their generosity of sharing the moment with me, how that will affect me.
• 17:19
  Rohan Tickell: So I know that I'll respond in those moments.
• 17:22
  Rohan Tickell: But in this moment I just find it kind of riveting in a human way.
• 17:26
  Rohan Tickell: I'm just constantly in that space and I don't think that there's anything in the play.
• 17:32
  Rohan Tickell: I really don't think that there's anything in the play that I find frightening.
• 17:36
  Rohan Tickell: But I do find it surprising and I do find it of other experiences and I guess as actors that old cliche about us actors, that's what we want to step into and look into it.
• 17:46
  Rohan Tickell: So when Deirdre handed me the play and said you want to have a read of this, and I said why?
• 17:51
  Rohan Tickell: And she said because I think you would really like to play this and I said yeah, but I I don't think.
• 17:56
  Rohan Tickell: And then she said just go home and read it.
• 17:58
  Rohan Tickell: And I finished it and I went oh dear, oh no, no, not even in that read did I find that I was frightened of it.
• 18:10
  Rohan Tickell: I think as a piece it's really inviting.
• 18:11
  Rohan Tickell: I think as a piece it's really kind.
• 18:13
  Rohan Tickell: I think as a piece it's really welcoming.
• 18:15
  Rohan Tickell: I think as a piece it's really generous.
• 18:17
  Rohan Tickell: As a piece, I think it's really generous as a piece.
• 18:20
  Rohan Tickell: I think it's really curious as a piece.
• 18:21
  Rohan Tickell: I think that it is really democratic in the way it looks at different experiences and so for me, I'm not as ringmaster but I get kind of to sit in the middle of that rather than to sit in sort of dangerous spaces, if that makes sense.
• 18:34
  Rohan Tickell: I hope some of that made sense.
• 18:35
  Rohan Tickell: I hope some of that made sense.
• 18:37
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: No, all of that made sense.
• 18:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I think you explained it really well, and there was something that you said in there that I want to clarify, because I'm not sure.
• 18:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If this is an interactive show, are you allowing audience members to speak to you during the performance?
• 18:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: And I see Deirdre nodding.
• 18:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Okay, that's unique to me.
• 18:57
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It's incredibly unique, yeah.
• 18:59
  Rohan Tickell: Before Deirdre speaks, can I tell you something from me, because Deidre can explain this so well, but something which involves audience participation.
• 19:08
  Rohan Tickell: I am that guy which is if you come near me, I'm going to cry or run because I've been an actor since I was 18.
• 19:14
  Rohan Tickell: But I promise you, if you come near me and you want me to do something, I'm going to cry or run or maybe steal your stuff, and that's not this.
• 19:25
  Rohan Tickell: Is that okay with you saying that?
• 19:30
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I want
• 19:30
  Deirdre McLaughlin: add something to the conversation we've been having.
• 19:33
  Deirdre McLaughlin: The first is to say so we rehearsed the play and we ran through the majority of it in a room today with the two of us and some artists.
• 19:41
  Deirdre McLaughlin: We invited to watch and give some feedback.
• 19:43
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And I think some individuals might be surprised, given the nature of the conversation that we're having, that the dominant sound in the rehearsal room is laughter, and that's because life and challenges and resilience is often funny that, yes, it's a play where the dominant activity, rowan's character, spending the course of his life making a list of a thousand things in the world that bring him joy, the initial catalyst for the making of that list is something depressing and a little scary and sad, but the maintaining of the list and the connecting it to all the different people he encounters with across his life is often a really joyful thing.
• 20:30
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Yeah while there is definitely discussions of depression and a brief reference to suicide in the play, which we make very clear because we want the audience to be informed, I have never and I wouldn't describe this as a play about suicide or depression.
• 20:46
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I would very much describe the storytelling as being a play about the lengths we go to for those we love, about how we often experience contrast in the ups and downs of life and how it's our connection to other individuals that help us navigate where we're at and how we feel about that.
• 21:10
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And I think that's quite universal.
• 21:11
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And I believe the playwright's intention, which I very much hope that our production brings forward, is to give the audience, at the end of that hour and 10 minutes, a sense of hope, a sense of collective joy and potentially, collective grief.
• 21:27
  Deirdre McLaughlin: But I think when we experience grief it's always so much more manageable when we do it with each other, which is part of why it is set up, so that we can all see each other.
• 21:37
  Mark David Boberick: Deidre, you have another term.
• 21:38
  Mark David Boberick: Sorry, you have another term.
• 21:40
  Mark David Boberick: That's what I was saying for the audience participation.
• 21:43
  Mark David Boberick: You said it this morning.
• 21:43
  Mark David Boberick: Oh, yes, yeah yeah.
• 21:46
  Deirdre McLaughlin: So I resist the phrase audience participation because, much like Rohan, when I as a as an audience member and a theater maker, when I go to shows and I'm told there's going to be participation, I feel a pit in my stomach.
• 21:59
  Deirdre McLaughlin: The last thing I want to do when I do a show is feel like I have to be a part of it, and we talk a lot about how.
• 22:07
  Deirdre McLaughlin: In this show.
• 22:08
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I would not describe it as audience participation.
• 22:10
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I would say that the audience is invited to interact with the story and it's really important to say it's an invitation which some will choose to take up and some will not, and that's completely fine.
• 22:23
  Deirdre McLaughlin: And their participation in telling the story means that the performance will be different every night, that one of the most joyful parts of the story is watching Rowan have to act on his feet and interact with what he's been offered, and I think that will be a real joy for the audience members.
• 22:41
  Deirdre McLaughlin: But there is no necessity to participate other than to watch.
• 22:45
  Deirdre McLaughlin: There's an offer or an invitation to engage or become a part of this character's world, this list of brilliant things.
• 22:57
  Deirdre McLaughlin: In my experience, having seen the show performed in its original production and in quite a few productions, since most audience members, once they realize what the invitation is and how joyful it is, they're jumping to take it up, and those who would rather sit back and watch can find a lot of joy in that as well.
• 23:19
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: As someone who reacts similarly to the two of you when told there is audience participation, I really really appreciate that distinction.
• 23:28
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So thank you, and thank you, Rowan, for reminding Deirdre that there is a better way to explain that.
• 23:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So my apologies for calling it audience participation.
• 23:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So for those listeners ignore that.
• 23:40
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: It is not audience participation, it is an invitation.
• 23:43
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Speaking of of how this performance will manifest, I do want to talk to you, rowan, about what it is to carry a one-man show right, because I can imagine that most of us feel the weight of that.
• 23:58
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: So can you tell us a little bit about the benefits and or the freedoms that are afforded to you as a performer when, when you don't have a partner?
• 24:05
  Rohan Tickell: Yeah, this is my first time taking on something at this length.
• 24:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Oh, wow.
• 24:11
  Rohan Tickell: This is the first piece I've I've ever had and it's quite an interesting thing you bring up because I've been an actor since I was 18 and I've done nothing else I've done, you know, basically I've never done an honest day's work in my life, all those cliches but I've been an actor all that time.
• 24:27
  Rohan Tickell: And if you asked me actually the first question whenever I've done Q&As, when people say, you know, what is it?
• 24:35
  Rohan Tickell: What do you love?
• 24:35
  Rohan Tickell: You know, why do you love theatre?
• 24:36
  Rohan Tickell: And I would instantly every time say, oh, it's the collaboration.
• 24:40
  Rohan Tickell: I remember when I was doing Rock of Ages people would say, oh, my God, the show's amazing.
• 24:44
  Rohan Tickell: What's the best part?
• 24:45
  Rohan Tickell: And I say the best part's the first moment when all of us turn up on stage and I stand there and I think you are not ready for us.
• 24:52
  Rohan Tickell: You know, it's just that feeling of that.
• 24:55
  Rohan Tickell: So this is a new one.
• 24:57
  Rohan Tickell: It might seem like a strange thing to cite, but I know from Deirdre.
• 25:04
  Rohan Tickell: You know one of the reasons why and we interact in all sorts of spaces, we interact in academic spaces and those sort of things Part of my journey over the last 20 years is I spend a lot of time nurturing young actors in training spaces and a big part of that is a bit of a one-man show.
• 25:25
  Rohan Tickell: It's kind of you're in a room taking care of 25 students, all of whom are passionately involved in a very specific or piquant moment, and it's trying to make those journeys safe for them but also introduce them to ideas, holding them, you know.
• 25:41
  Rohan Tickell: I mean you know holding, holding their space and and watching how they respond, but also keeping that story going.
• 25:48
  Rohan Tickell: So, in a way, when Deirdre and I talked about it, one of the the the nice side skillsets is we knew that that was a skillset I've been working on for the last 20 years.
• 25:57
  Rohan Tickell: And so the meshing of those two worlds of playing things like Valjean working, being in Cats, you know, doing all those sort of things, but also being a classically trained actor doing Shakespeare in those, and then bringing that back now to a space which, in a way, I've been practicing for for a long time, it's really interesting.
• 26:18
  Rohan Tickell: And it's really exciting to me because it's not an alien space for me.
• 26:22
  Rohan Tickell: I thought it would be.
• 26:23
  Rohan Tickell: Deirdre said, no, it won't, you've been doing this for 20 years.
• 26:25
  Rohan Tickell: And I step into the space and I said, oh, okay.
• 26:29
  Rohan Tickell: So I don't know if that answers the question.
• 26:31
  Rohan Tickell: The challenges, of course, are no one gives you the cues, and the cues, as Deirdre said, could be different every night and, depending on someone's response to what you're offering them, they could offer you something very different.
• 26:45
  Rohan Tickell: And until those sort of things start rolling in, even in rehearsals today, working with these different artists, what's beautiful and it's one of my favorite things, and I guess there's the collaboration is I'm only going to be as interesting as you make me or as what you offer me, because I'll go where you take me, and so those are the differences.
• 27:04
  Rohan Tickell: But yeah, it's a big challenge.
• 27:07
  Rohan Tickell: I was speaking to my wife about it and I said, well, you know, I mean, maybe I don't do any more acting after this one.
• 27:13
  Rohan Tickell: You know, just because we were talking about things, she said, well, it would be a hard act to follow this play, and so, yeah, it is a very specific experience for me.
• 27:21
  Rohan Tickell: I think, if you want to get down into the weeds of technique or ideas, the biggest thing for me is to understand the through line and the very specific logic of each thought, meeting each thought, because a lot of this play seems I hate the contemporary term random, but a lot of it seems like they're sort of random synapses firing.
• 27:44
  Rohan Tickell: But actually the beautiful thing about every time I read I go oh, I see, that's why that moment happens, because back here this happened, and so I guess that's sort of a three-pronged answer to what you're saying is one, it's a very common place for me to be, but different.
• 28:02
  Rohan Tickell: Two, um, it's an expansion of the collaborative experience.
• 28:07
  Rohan Tickell: And three, it gives me a chance to really dig into a human from the age of seven all the way through, instead of being restricted to just a specific snapshot moment, which a lot of plays do there are very few, very, very, very, very few plays, certainly not plays of only this length, where you get to kind of span 40 years of a person's life and all of those moments to be significant or insignificant at the same time.
• 28:34
  Rohan Tickell: Does that help?
• 28:35
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: That was brilliant.
• 28:36
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Honestly, that was one of the every brilliant things in life.
• 28:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I had no idea what to expect from that question and that's why I ask it.
• 28:46
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I that just made me really happy to hear that this is a new experience for you, and yet not new because you've been doing it for so long.
• 28:55
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But it took Deirdre pointing that out to you to realize that you'd been doing it.
• 28:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You know you've been prepping for this moment for the last 20 years.
• 29:02
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I really love that and I guess that brings me right back to Deirdre, because you're obviously a huge part of this collaboration.
• 29:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: You are directing Rowan, so I want to know how you prepare yourself for, for the care that you you have to give the themes, but also your process in general.
• 29:21
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: How do you approach the work?
• 29:23
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I think that one of the most important things as a director on this piece is to stay grounded in empathy, not only for the characters but for the audience and for the actor, and certainly in rehearsal I've been focused quite a bit at this time about what it's like for Rowan as the actor and what that interaction with the audience will be like, so that everyone feels cared for and safe in that.
• 29:50
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Now, Every Brilliant Thing is not just about mental health.
• 29:54
  Deirdre McLaughlin: It's about how we navigate it, how we survive it, how we hold each other up individually, collectively.
• 30:01
  Deirdre McLaughlin: So I think a big part of my preparation for this piece is really deep listening.
• 30:07
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Rowan said before the script the more we read it, the more we find connections and layers.
• 30:12
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I think that's really true.
• 30:14
  Deirdre McLaughlin: I think we take a lot of time to pause and talk about how moments in the script relate to lived experience that we have, that audience members may have, and how that shifts the way we look and interact with them, and part of it's just practically paying attention to the emotional rhythms of the rehearsal room.
• 30:31
  Deirdre McLaughlin: When do we need a break?
• 30:32
  Deirdre McLaughlin: When do I push Rowan to keep going?
• 30:34
  Deirdre McLaughlin: When do we stop and hug?
• 30:35
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Those are all things we've thought about and I think such an important part of storytelling or working as a director is balancing the light and the dark that there's plenty of humor and jokes and laughter in our rehearsal space, as there is in the performance.
• 30:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: My favorite thing that you said there is when do we stop and hug?
• 30:53
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: And I'm mentally making my own list in my head about every brilliant thing in my life and I'm adding that when do we get to stop and hug?
• 31:01
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: But I may as well ask you, all three of you, what's on your list?
• 31:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you had to make a list, what would?
• 31:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I don't know.
• 31:09
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Give me two things.
• 31:10
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Maybe, if you can, one or two.
• 31:13
  Rohan Tickell: So when I'm home and I've just been home I walk, for I've shown Deirdre pictures.
• 31:17
  Rohan Tickell: It's these huge sweeping beaches and I'll walk for four hours and I'll see four people.
• 31:31
  Rohan Tickell: So when my foot hits sand, my family call me Bob when we're on holiday.
• 31:35
  Rohan Tickell: And the reason I'm called Bob is because I head into the water and they say where's Rowan?
• 31:40
  Rohan Tickell: And it's three hours later and they say he's still out out there and I'll just be 100 meters offshore just bobbing.
• 31:46
  Rohan Tickell: So yeah, so the moment my foot hits the sands, a brilliant thing for me.
• 31:50
  Rohan Tickell: I love that.
• 31:51
  Rohan Tickell: And the other one I'll say is the um, because it fits with.
• 31:55
  Rohan Tickell: New Jersey is, of course, and it's really cliched in that, but is the sax solo from Jungle Land?
• 32:00
  Rohan Tickell: Thank you very much.
• 32:04
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love it.
• 32:05
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love it.
• 32:06
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Mark, did you have something you wanted to add?
• 32:11
  Mark David Boberick: Yeah, I have a couple things.
• 32:16
  Mark David Boberick: An evergreen thing for me is the quote by Joan Rivers when she said Life is hard, but it's even harder if you don't laugh.
• 32:20
  Mark David Boberick: That really has been a very driving like driving force for me, I would say, because, you know, there's this universality that we're talking about with this show and the whole reason for the, for the, the support with the talk back thursdays and everything, is that you know there's, there's a stigma that needs to be ended and and with mental health, with with mental health, and you know, but it's, but we're all going through it Mental illness is so much larger than anyone is giving a credit for.
• 32:53
  Mark David Boberick: It's just it's, it's just about as universal as can be now too, and that's, I think, what we're all realizing is that mental illness pretty much affects just about everybody in some way.
• 33:02
  Mark David Boberick: So it's important that life is going to throw you curve balls, but you really have to go with the punches and you have to.
• 33:11
  Mark David Boberick: You have to laugh, you have to laugh, and that's the beauty of this show is that there is so much laughter, and laughter is the most healing thing ever.
• 33:20
  Mark David Boberick: So also the look I get when I pick up my dog from the groomer, which is not the same every time.
• 33:30
  Mark David Boberick: The looks vary, but it's always something I'll take.
• 33:38
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I love these lists so far.
• 33:39
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Deirdre how about you.
• 33:41
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Definitely the first sip of coffee in the morning.
• 33:44
  Deirdre McLaughlin: That is high on the list for me.
• 33:46
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Um, and it's such a simple thing, but one that always feel makes me smile.
• 33:52
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Even bad coffee, um, I think long car rides with friends, with lots of talking or singing to music is a brilliant thing, and I think when someone tells you a story and you feel changed after that.
• 34:11
  Deirdre McLaughlin: It could be two sentences, it could be two hours, but I think that's a really brilliant thing.
• 34:17
  Rohan Tickell: Then I'll add one last one, not trying to get the last word, but I just want to add serendipity.
• 34:22
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Yes, yes, I like that.
• 34:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Well, I'll be stealing all of yours.
• 34:30
  Deirdre McLaughlin: If I would say anything, it's about who's this, who this show is for, and while I think that some of the themes mean that it's maybe not necessarily a show for children, I think that anyone, from sort of teenage age to your great grandmother, can enjoy this show, because it is about the way we connect to the joys of life at all stages of life, and so it really is a show for anyone.
• 35:00
  Rohan Tickell: I think it's a play about the top of the hill, not the valley.
• 35:04
  Rohan Tickell: I really do.
• 35:07
  Mark David Boberick: I describe it as an exploration of hope.
• 35:10
  Deirdre McLaughlin: Yeah, that's what the list is.
• 35:12
  Mark David Boberick: And also one of the things I think that I love most about it is that you know I love theater that gives you that moment, you know that chill, that energy rush that sweeps your body.
• 35:23
  Mark David Boberick: You that that moment, you know that chill, that energy rush that sweeps your body and that those chills.
• 35:27
  Mark David Boberick: Theater that doesn't give you those those moments and doesn't make you feel something like that is is not theater that I'm interested in producing.
• 35:35
  Mark David Boberick: I will be honest.
• 35:36
  Mark David Boberick: But this is that show that touches you in unexpected ways, multiple unexpected ways and changes you, and I'm excited that we're bringing that to our audiences here in Cape May because everyone deserves to have that experience in the theater.
• 35:59
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: East Lynn Theater Company's production of Every Brilliant Thing runs from July 31st through August 30th at the Clemens Theatre for the Arts in Cape May.
• 36:07
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: For tickets and more information, be sure to visit eastlyntheatreorg.
• 36:11
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: If you liked this episode, be sure to review, subscribe and tell your friends.
• 36:16
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: A transcript of this podcast, links relevant to the story and more about the arts in New Jersey can be found at jerseyartscom.
• 36:24
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Thanks for watching.
• 36:25
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Edited and produced by me, gina Marie Rodriguez, executive producers are Jim Atkinson and Isaac Cernodiez, and my thanks, of course, to Mark David Boberic, deirdre McLaughlin and Rowan Tickle for speaking with me today.
• 36:51
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez for the Jersey Arts Podcast.
• 36:54
  Gina Marie Rodriguez: Thanks for listening.